A Reason To Like Myself
by CleopatraVII
Summary: Dennis's thoughts before his death. Please review!


A/N: Not mine. I love Thir13en Ghosts, and especially Dennis, so please don't flame me! REVIEW please. 

Arthur is in the wall behind me, safe. And I intend to keep him that way.

Throwing myself against the wall, I ignore Arthur's muffled yells of "Dennis!" as the Hammer makes his way towards me. Funny to think that just a matter of hours ago (though now it seems like years, perhaps even lifetimes ago) I was explaining to Maggie that some ghosts are violent, but most don't even want to hurt us, using the Hammer as my example of violence. Violence breeds violence, isn't that what Shakespeare said of Romeo and Juliet's love?

The Hammer is making his way towards me, his face in a perpetual snarl. His eyes are riveted on Arthur behind me, so I do the only thing I can think of.

"Hey bro! You ain't nothing but a BITCH!" I yell out, grabbing my crotch.

It works. The Hammer swings at me, and I roll out of his way, feeling a bit like James Bond as I do. Arthur shies away from the glass as the Hammer slams his…erm, hammer-fist into it. Sparks fly, and already I'm working to keep his attention.

For the first time in my life, I'm doing something good. Arthur has a family; I don't. Now, the only problem is remembering that, and not dying. As I told Arthur, I've been looking for a reason to like myself for a long time. All my life I've been alone- hell, now it looks as though I'll be dying a virgin. 

***FLASH BACK- High school

_"Dennis…" Janet coos into my ear, and I try to make my answering giggle sound sexy. It's after the senior prom, and I've decided to take Janet for a little ride to a particularly scenic spot… We are kissing; her lips warm against mine, her body firm and wrapping around mine. _

I moan softly, and she thinks that it's a moan of ecstasy. 

As she worms her tongue into my mouth, I see all of her past boyfriends. I feel her pain at losing her mother as a girl of 9, the joy of getting a bunny for her birthday at 11. I know all of her secrets.

Janet is playing with the button to my rented prom suit's pants, and in my mind she is giggling with her girlfriends, nervous about the prom- the very one we just finished attending. My body is willing her to go further, but my mind is trapped in each of her memories. 

The flashes end just as she undoes the button, and the pain hits. I jerk forward, and she lets out a small squeal, surprised by my sudden movement. She pulls away. "Dennis?" she whispers, her hand coming up to my forehead.

Pain shoots through my skull, and my head snaps back. "Aah!" I cry out. The pain keeps coming and now Janet is scared. 

"Dennis? Dennis! What's the matter?" she's crying to me, and her hands grip my shoulders. Pain rips down from her contact. I see more of the flashes, but in them Janet is dead. Her pretty face is bruised and bleeding, and there is fire all around. She screams, and then there is an explosion.

"No! Don't touch me!" I yell out finally, and she pulls back, hurt. I can hardly care though; at least the pain is finally subsiding into a dull pounding at the base of my skull. With the pain as it is, I lean over the steering wheel, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Janet watches on, biting her lower lip.

As soon as the pain was dull enough for me to be able to function like a human, I turn to Janet. "I… I'm sorry. I don't know what that was… but I think maybe I should take you home." I say apologetically, only half-lying. This has been happening since I hit puberty, but yes, she needs to go home. 

She nods, and away we go. I drop her off, and we kiss a final time. That kiss turns out to be the last touch I'm able to enjoy- from her or anyone else. Janet dies in a car crash three days later, and, after collapsing on my bed fully clothed later tonight, I am sent into painful fits any time someone touches me.

****

*BAM*

The Hammer hits the glass again. I've been dodging him as I remember Janet, my last girlfriend. That was almost 10 years ago, and now look where I am. 

Arthur is still pounding on the glass. He thinks he can help me, but I finally am feeling good. Ever since the prom, my world has been about me. Different prescriptions to dull the pain have made me float through life, until I met Cyrus. 

Cyrus was my friend… Sure, the stuff he made me do hurt me, but friends work for each other. It doesn't bother me, and the money he owed me was more then enough to cover what qualms I had. Now he's dead, and I'm protecting his nephew- funny world, isn't it?

I'm so tired of needing the drugs. It hasn't occurred to me in a while how miserable I am.

Arthur has a family. That's my mantra as I dodge the Hammer.

I turn once, and see Arthur's eyes. Without being a psychic, I can tell that some paternal part of him loves me. He knows what I'm doing, and he wants to protect me, regardless of his children. He knows as well as I do that it's my fault I'm even doing this in the first place, but he still wants to help me. No one, not even Janet, ever looked at me that way- my mother died at a young age, and my father was a hopeless alcoholic because of it. All of a sudden, I want to be a part of Arthur's family: I want a better chance to flirt with Maggie, to be dragged along with Kathy on a shopping run, and to watch Bobby grow up (and maybe to teach him about ghost hunting. He'd like that, right?). I want to ask Arthur for advice.

These silly thoughts race through my mind, and already I can hear the electric whirring of the final cube opening. 

I turn away from Arthur, and stare in horror. The Juggernaut is marching towards me, and I can swear that he is smirking.

"Oh, my god…" I whisper, pinning myself against the glass that shields Arthur. _This might hurt_, I think to myself. Screw my usual diatribe, this is officially a serious situation.

The Hammer moves, and, with a movement so fast it blurs, the Hammer smashes my out-stretched hand. I can feel the bones shatter, and I fall to my knees, screaming and cradling my arm. Something red catches my eye: a smear of blood left from my hand on Arthur's glass. 

What was it I said earlier? "I sure hope I don't bleed to death, 'cause that would suck." Looks like that won't be a problem now. At least I've got my suit on- the coroner won't need to worry about that.

I pull myself into a sitting position, and stare up at the massive Juggernaut. 40 victims when we first met… and how many more since then? 

Somehow the Hammer is behind me. Everything moves in slow motion with the pain, and I'm fixated on the bullet-riddled Juggernaut.

****

*SLAM*

The Hammer drops his fist-turned-hammer onto the base of my neck, and I collapse. I taste blood in my mouth, and red tints my vision. Arthur's screams are echoing in my head, and I have a final vision of him holding his children in the not-so-distant future.

Now the Juggernaut is picking me up and slamming me around. I hear myself crying out (a small "Oof!" punctuates each slam) and then I am raised high. I see Arthur, watching me with sorrowful eyes. 

My body is bent in half, and, with my spine popping like a BB gun, I finally can say goodbye to the pain. 

~*~*~*~

A/N: thanks for reading this! I love Dennis, so I think I might do some more fics with him… what do you think? PLEASE review!


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